Eternal Concepts (formerly known as Ambassadors For Christ) has successfully completed their first overseas miniature discipleship training school.  Dave Tippit traveled to Madurai, India to lead the weeklong program, which began on Monday, June 11 and concluded the following week.  Also incorporated into the weeklong seminars were group worship times, individual quiet times, group discussions, and in-depth Bible study of the four Gospels.

Fifty students participated in the discipleship school, with each person staying from 6:30 am in the morning until 10:00 pm at night.  Tippit himself put in long hours each day, but commented on the success of the first ever miniaturized training school. “The first ever discipleship training seminar held in Madurai, India was an amazing success. God worked as deeply as I have seen Him work overseas, beyond any of the things I have seen Him do in and through Eternal Concepts in the past. The students were so hungry for God and a renewed sense of God’s presence in their lives. He seemed to reward the desires of their heart,” said Tippit. 

He continued by saying, “They literally ate up the materials that EC presented.  At times, they didn’t want to go to meals because the discussion sessions were so compelling and they didn’t want the conversations to end. The prayer times were equally as vigorous as God’s presence seemed to tangibly linger.” 

Immediately following the amazing time spent in India, Tippit then flew to meet his sister, Renee Barker, to begin production on the documentary film and podcast series they have been working on for several years.  This documentary film, called The Bottom Line, is about conscientious consumerism/ethical shopping and how each individual can make a difference in the lives of those hurting around the world. 

Both Tippit and Barker interviewed various presidents from several large organizations to implement into their documentary film and podcast series.  Tippit described the experience, “God’s grace seemed to graciously flow with abundance over everything associated with this project. The interviews conducted far exceeded our expectations. They were inspiring while day after day, interview after interview, Renee and I garnered more and more confidence about our abilities and the preparation we had done beforehand. Some of the organizations even offered to assist us for our various human interest pieces that will be embedded in the documentary by providing us with the necessary contacts in various developing countries where we will be ministering in next year, such as India.” 

He went on to speak about a Christian organization that is considered one of the major fair trade organizations in the UK. “We heard testimonies from the staff on how significant portions of the Body of Christ across denominational lines in the UK are responding in a constructive way to the issue of fair trade.  They are determined to love their global neighbors by becoming cognizant of how their purchasing power in the global north tangibly affects lives in the global south. This organization even provides Sunday school materials and resources for churches to go through on why this issue is so central to the tenets of what it means to be a follower of Jesus Christ in the 21^st century.” 

Tippit and Barker then traveled to Washington DC to conclude their interviews with other conscientious organizations.  This initial trip is the first of many in the next year and a half for Tippit and Barker.  They will continue to travel to various parts of the world, engaging with numerous companies on how each person can truly make a difference around the world.   

Please continue to pray for the Eternal Concepts team as they commence on the different projects throughout the year.  Pray specifically for Dave Tippit as he has already left for the second discipleship trip training school, which is being held in Romania.  Pray for refreshment, rest, and safety as he is leaving again so soon after he arrived back from India and England.  And pray for his family, that they will have peace and safety as he is away ministering in Romania. 

If you would like more information on either EC's discipleship training schools or The Bottom Line documentary and podcast series, please call: 210-479-000 or go to www.thinketernalconcepts.org or www.thinkbottomline.net